Followup: 956 Cinnabar St in San Jose
On this day in 2006, I featured this house:
$550,000 for a house that will eat your soul – great for new families
Let’s see what Zillow has to say today:
Boy I bet you feel stupid for not buying this house back then!
Even worse, this house sold for $774,000 in 3/29/2007 – so if you had just bought this in 2006, you could’ve pocketed $224,000. Just look at all that free money you missed out! Don’t make that mistake, quick, buy a house!
If I were you, I’d drop by this house and see if the current owner will sell. There’s a lot of trapped equity here. A lot!
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am
I’ve got it! Midtown Mystery Mansionette. We’ll make a killing.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 am
If I were you, I’d drop by this house and see if the current owner will sell. There’s a lot of trapped equity here. A lot!
That’s not all that’s trapped in this house. How about all the ghosts in the basement?
And what’s with the 0.1 bathrooms? If a half-bath is sink and toilet, and a quarter-bath is sink only, what’s a tenth-bath? A guest towel rack?
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:47 am
It’s a spectre of a sink. Muahahahahahaha.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:57 am
I found the owner of this house, and he’s very friendly! Come on by and he’ll take you for a tour.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:10 am
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cinnabar+St.+San+Jose,+CA&sll=37.330993,-121.878762&sspn=0.019451,0.04446&ie=UTF8&ll=37.338364,-121.909554&spn=0.009724,0.02223&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=37.334209,-121.909598&panoid=rMuUafi5YF0HoisK0Wijtw&cbp=1,136.7598811287117,,0,-4.061662750590978
The house looks a lot better now, as if the previous owner fixed it up. I’ve heard of people doing such things before, buying an old house, fixing it up, and then selling it for a profit. But never heard of that occurring in San Jose.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 am
Wow! Looks like they really turned that place around. Hats off.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
I love the Street view function. Not only can we see what a nice job they did fixing up the house, but you can check out whether the neighbors are up to the task. There’s 2-3 more Victorians like it, but on your left is a lovely auto parts store in sturdy cinderblock. Don’t forget the auto service bays just 3 doors down on the left, and across the street, oh boy! A huge apartment or condo complex! I feel like it’s 1899 again!
This may be a case of a lot of high quality lipstick on a pig.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:27 am
http://www.redfin.com/CA/SAN-FRANCISCO/131-Lowell-St-94112/home/1918239
Here is instant equity for you burbed. 800k house now selling for 475k. I had a friend bought a much smaller house in this neighborhood for this much in ’00. I kind of doubt that this house has 1800sf though.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 am
There are plenty of houses like this in San Jose for way under $500K. In fact, do a search for homes in the city under $400K; you’d be surprised how many you can find, and they’re not all Alum Rock. If you’re bargain hunting, San Jose is quite affordable right now.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:47 am
OK so this house is actually the right kind of house for this type of remodel, and in the right area too. The problem is this guy bought at the wrong time. The issues with the house are that this type of facade which is a true victorian with a lot of filigree on the facade, is a little too expensive to remodel for a 1000 sq ft house (I can’t tell if he has added any square footage with the remodel). The willow glen zipcode is 95125, so this is one freeway away, which means you are close in to the high end part of town- you are not IN the high end part of town obviously. 95126 (and Morrison in particular) is the right part of town to do this kind of work. I would look for a house there in the 350-400K range right now and preferably a California craftsman bungalow which is cheaper to fix up.
San Jose in some of the close in downtown areas remind me a little of the Haight in SF in 1990. Back then the haight had nothing but run down victorians that had been split up into pieces and rented (if you want to really damage a house, break it into pieces and rent it- because what ends up happening in the old houses don’t have enough bathrooms/sinks for this, so areas like the laundry room or outside faucets get turned inside where you are not watertight, etc).
There is an area in SJ called Martha Gardens where they are trying to upgrade to an arts area- this is by Spartan Stadium on the south side. Whereever the new condos are going, thats a good place to buy these victorians, but the price has to be right- under 400K.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:50 am
rick,
From what I can tell, being south or east of the 280 doesn’t count as being in San Francisco.
I don’t know what the market is for restoring old houses like this, but I have seen a lot on MLS north of downtown SJ. I think they cost more south of downtown.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:00 am
Does Hollywood know about this house? May be they can make the 2nd remake of Psycho here.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 am
So, I’m looking around, and I’m wondering what’s wrong with the neighborhood – I mean, sure, cinderblock business next door, but so what? Why isn’t this a million dollar house? It’s in the bay area, right?
So I check out crime statistics. Nope, pretty much no crime in that neighborhood (nice, btw).
http://www.spotcrime.com/ca/san+jose
Then I zoom out. Hey, isn’t that a runway pointed at this house?
Hope they’ve updated the soundproofing to go with that new paint.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 am
95126 is great, the ZIP also includes the Rose Garden area which has an abundance of charm. If I was going to own a property in San Jose it would be in Midtown for sure, even if only for the Caltrain station.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Columbus park and Guadalupe Gardens have deafening aircraft descent noise, I imagine all of Cinnabar is probably just as bad.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:18 pm
“There are plenty of houses like this in San Jose for way under $500K. In fact, do a search for homes in the city under $400K; you’d be surprised how many you can find, and they’re not all Alum Rock. If you’re bargain hunting, San Jose is quite affordable right now.”
Sir, you are absolutely off your rocker. What on earth would make you say that a 1,000 sqft house for half a million dollars is “affordable”? Is it the fact that property is valued less than it has been previously? What exactly are you using as your benchmark to determine if something is “affordable”?
Property values are going down, yes BUT they have simply gone from insane to slightly less insane.
Maybe you should spend your time making big bucks in the real estate market rather than continually posting vague, unsubstantiated and incorrect claims on a housing blog.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Anon, what would you pay for this?
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
isn’t this property near Valley Fair mall? You can live on Cinna-bar and enjoy a Cinna-bon at the mall! Sorry, I couldn’t resist…
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Anon,
Dude, under $400K is not affordable? If that’s the case you cannot even afford Austin.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
RE,
Now that is crazy talk, Austin does not cost over $400k to buy a 1000sqft house, people buy houses over 2000sqft in Austin for less than 200k all the time. Maybe not in the same neighborhood as your rich friends, but in decent enough neighborhoods.
You really need to get your facts straight.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Burbed, I have no idea what I would pay for that house given the current market conditions. My own subjective valuation wouldn’t be very helpful.
Perhaps I am misunderstanding what it means for something to be “affordable.” Does Mr. RE’s affordability assessment take into account the quality of the property, or is it simply based on the number?
Judging from his unhelpful reply: “$400K is not affordable? If that’s the case you cannot even afford Austin,” it looks like it is nothing more than the number associated with a listing. If that is the case than ‘affordability’ is entirely based on what a person is able to pay. That’s fine, but it means that Mr. RE’s statement that something is “affordable” is a completely empty and meaningless as it varies from person to person. Could I buy it if I wanted to? Sure, but my personal situation is not relevant to anyone else’s but my own.
Again, I ask, what makes something “affordable?” Evidently it has nothing to do with value.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
anon – affordability and value have this in common: both lie in the eye of the beholder. Affordability is a house price function of personal wealth and access to credit. Value is a house price function of construction and neighborhood quality. Neither one take future variations of wealth, access to credit or neighborhood evolution into account. So neither one can be used as a criteria to recommend a purchase to someone you don’t know. Some people try and project future events into the perceived value of a house. Good luck to them.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Well, 500k is affordable for family income more than 150k, 1m is affordable for those making 250k, so yeah affordable.
Personally I think a mini-cooper is affordable for a family with income more than 10k, you know, 3-4 times income.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Put the same house in a good block of Oakland and you’ll get $400K for it. Do people really pay that much extra just so they don’t have to rub shoulders with the occasional black person? I like this house, but $774K is astonishingly dumb.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Postings on this blog never cease to amaze me. Today July 3, 2008, a poster actually suggested that racism may account for about half of the price a buyer pays for a house in silicon valley. He then hinted that there may be dumber things than himself out there.
Now I’ll feel foolish showing this blog to my nephew – he is half-black, living in San Jose.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Let’s put things in perspective:
1. When Madhaus bought his house back in ’92, he already paid around $300K.
2. Assuming 20% down, at 6.3% interest rate, monthly payment for a $400K house is just under $2000 a month. That’s comparable to rent, and definitely affordable for the typical family here earning median income.
3. This is not Austin. Go out and feel the weather.
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
“Walking distance to Santana Row” must be worth an extra $200K at least.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
While a mortgage of 320k is affordable to a family making the median 82k for Santa Clara county, saving 80k on a 82k salary isn’t that easy to do, especially when one considers the amount one has to pay in taxes, and savings for a 401k, saving 16k/year of after tax money would be an accomplishment for such a family. They would then have to save up for 5 years in order to buy a 400k place, which still hasn’t been shown to exist (even though I know they are some in East SJ). More likely the family would have to save up for 10 years in order to make that down payment.
If you want Austin like weather, there is always Tracy, and prices are soon going to compete with Austin.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
“Walking distance to Santana Row” must be worth an extra $200K at least.
I never understand that. Next door to Lucky or something, makes sense, because you have to go there anyway, but a foofy little shopping district? You need to save cash on the mortgate because you’ll be spending it at the stores.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I think it still looks haunted…
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Next door to Lucky or something, makes sense, because you have to go there anyway, but a foofy little shopping district?
————-
I agree. Secondly, “walking distance” is useful when the the whole neighborhood is pedestrian friendly between point A to B. But let’s have a look at the streets around Santana Row. Stevens Creek and Winchester? They are pedestrian
friendlynightmares. Even Santana Row itself is surrounded by parking lots where cars are speeding in and out – some of the drivers are drunk.July 3rd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
“Postings on this blog never cease to amaze me. Today July 3, 2008, a poster actually suggested that racism may account for about half of the price a buyer pays for a house in silicon valley. He then hinted that there may be dumber things than himself out there.”
OK genius, then justify the price of this place. The only real difference is the demographics.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:39 pm
sonarrat – only the real estate agent can justify the price, and only the potential purchaser can justify the value he placed on the property. Me? I wouldn’t buy it in the first place.
In the meantime, how about you expand your elements of comparison from demography to geography, history and economy.
By the way I said I’m genial, not genius.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:46 pm
especially when one considers the amount one has to pay in taxes, and savings for a 401k, saving 16k/year
If you’re going to buy a home, do you really need a 401k? This is California. Homes=401k.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I think a lot of people are really turned off stock investments -that includes 401Ks in this decade. To even compare a 401K with real estate in this decade is pure folly. Inflation is back and liquid investments waaaaay underperform. I have an old 401K that has about 23K in it that has sat there, with that amt going back and forth 20K-24K and back again for 4 years. And before somebody says I am a poor investor, this is one of the better performing funds in the list of funds available for that particular plan. The stock market is SO OVER.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
TH- 95126 does not have airplane noise. I know what you are talking about though- the area where the airport noise is deafening is called Rosemary Gardens. Rosemary gardens is 95110 and it has streets like Keoncrest and Forrestal. Pretty much everybody new to san jose looks on MLSlistings and says “wow this house on Forrestal is only 300K! what a deal!” – until they realize the noise problem. 95126 near the freeway is sortof noisy at certain times- like summer days at the commute hour. But this street Cinnabar is nowhere even close to 280 which is the real problem and its pretty far from 87- I’ll bet there is minimal freeway noise. 95125 Willow Glen has some outlying streets that are close to 280 off of Bird- W. Virginia is one- these have this street noise problem and they are definitely not prime willow glen but they are still Willow glen and you can get a good price for *any* house in 95125 even with these issues. The further south from 280 the less the problem is and by Riverside/Palm Haven it is nonexistant. Sonorrat is right, central san jose 95126 is an up and coming area, a good investment. I don’t see this house listed anymore but this guy would have to sell it for too much at this point. Its not a bad place though.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
RE, it sure is a damn fine night here in the RBA. Looks like thunderstorms and 80 degrees in Houston. Hey, at least its 80 degrees. Maybe its less smoggy than here as well.
Burbed, on second thought, I came up with a valuation. I’ve always rented and my entirely subjective valuation for that house in the current rental market would be 2000 a month. That may be a little low. Rent seems to be going up right now since it is harder to obtian credit and less lucrative to buy. Anyway, assuming a P/R ratio of 15 (yes I know this is not realistic), I’d say that I would CONSIDER paying x/(2000×12)=15 -> $360,000 for that janky ass house.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 pm
oh, and one more thing. Anyone who lives in San Jose see the apartment downtown that is advertising a PENTHOUSE RAFFLE? Sounds pretty sweet. RE, maybe you could sell the raffle ticket for 15% more next year.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25420869/
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
In the words of the studio audience at Let’s Make a Deal, Take the money!
July 4th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Check this property out in downtown San Jose:
http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/CA/San-Jose/63-S-19th-St-100_810442.htm
Only $400K. Good location, huge lot, decent looking from the outside too, but description says “house has been lived in hard”. No photo of the interior. Curious how hard a house can be lived in.
July 4th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Assuming 20% down, at 6.3% interest rate, monthly payment for a $400K house is just under $2000 a month. That’s comparable to rent, and definitely affordable for the typical family here earning median income.
Well, to be picky, there’s a few things wrong with that statement: $400k houses are not renting for $2000, they’re renting for rather less. So while it may be comparable, it’s not the same. Maybe next year, if rents continue up (which isn’t likely, rents don’t generally rise in recessions – ref 1999-2002).
Also, you’re likening the cost of a mortgage payment to the cost of rent – it’s not, of course, since you also need to figure in insurance, taxes and maintenance.
Still, if a property really was selling for $400k, and renting for 2000, that’s 200x rent. That’s on the very edge of sanity for purchasing a home. Not affordable, not cheap, but at least no longer shreikingly stupid.
But since houses were selling for 120x rent at the end of the last crash, why lock in all that negative equity now? Why not at least wait, as I am, for 150x rent, and get a 25% further discount on your home.
After all, even for all us Google Millionaires, it can take a pretty long time to make that kind of money.
Remember, housing prices don’t shoot back up after hitting bottom. They just sit there. So you won’t miss the bottom if you wait for it.
July 4th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Jim D, you make a lot of sense, i.e., you really don’t belong on this board.
July 4th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Only $400K. Good location, huge lot, decent looking from the outside too, but description says “house has been lived in hard”. No photo of the interior. Curious how hard a house can be lived in.
RE, that’s a question that answers itself in the property description. That unit out back isn’t a garage. It’s an “artist’s studio.”
Seriously, though, the house is a few blocks from San Jose State. Maybe it’s a shut down frat house.
July 4th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Lionel,
Take your sense elsewhere. Even in heated discussions I don’t see such remarks that not only degrading the owner of the site, but the entire board of contributors.
July 4th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
rick – Nicely put. Lionel demonstrated how to antagonize every single poster in just one sentence. I’m sure that to achieve that level of efficiency, it took him lots of practice.
July 4th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I think a lot of people are really turned off stock investments -that includes 401Ks in this decade. To even compare a 401K with real estate in this decade is pure folly.
Agreed, it’s apples/oranges. One may need to sell a house within 10 years because of a necessary move. But a 401k isn’t expected to get turned over in the short term, and most of the money is usually moved to more stable, lower-return investments by 10 years prior to retirement.
IOW, you may be forced to care about what happens to real estate this decade, but the same urgency need not necessarily apply to stocks.
July 4th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
“sonarrat – only the real estate agent can justify the price, and only the potential purchaser can justify the value he placed on the property. Me? I wouldn’t buy it in the first place.
In the meantime, how about you expand your elements of comparison from demography to geography, history and economy.
By the way I said I’m genial, not genius.”
All right. Oakland is fifteen minutes to San Francisco, the undisputed cultural nexus of the Bay Area; it takes an hour and a half to get there from San Jose. ADV: OAK. SJ is the highest-paying market in the country for tech; Oakland is not far behind at #4. ADV: SJC. Both midtown SJ and Oakland have heaps of history, but historically, Oakland has been more prosperous because of its seaport and massive rail hub. ADV: OAK.
I’m still not seeing why there’s such a huge disparity between the prices of San Jose and great Oakland neighborhoods such as Ivy Hill, Redwood Heights, and Grand Lake.. to say nothing of Temescal or Rockridge.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Okay, I’ve stayed out of the “Why is San Jose more expensive than Oakland” debate, mostly because I like both you two, so I’m going to carefully tiptoe in and try to keep things diplomatic. And if that doesn’t work I’ll write a couple more song parodies.
San Jose is not merely the home of higher paying tech jobs but of more tech jobs. If you lose your job in Silicon Valley, you can bet there’s another five places, minimum, doing something very similar to what your last place was doing.
You cannot do that from Oakland, unless you want to pull a bob and commute 75 miles a day and not bother having kids. Or wait 5 months for the right job to open up closer in (Emeryville or SF).
You can get to SF from most parts of SJ in an hour if you drive there during non-commute times. But there’s more to do in San Jose than Oakland, since we’re comparing a city of almost a million to one of 400,000.
Median household income – Oakland: $44K
Median income – San Jose: $70K
Median home price – Oakland: $410K
Median home price – San Jose: $560K
So here’s a question for you. If the average household in San Jose has more than 150% the income of the average household in Oakland, why are San Jose homes only 130% the price?
Hey DreamT, I went to Central Park on Kiely to watch the fireworks tonight. I cussed Sunnyvale for not putting on a decent 4th of July party all these years, and never any fireworks.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
sonarrat – You’re right that it’s not a clear-cut case if you consider the proximity of SF.
I considered buying in Oakland hills at one point (a coworker of mine did, his place has gorgeous views). So I’ll tell you the reasons I opted for a condominium in Mountain View at the time rather than a nice house in the Oakland hills.
First and foremost, the Oakland hills felt too remote, as simple as that. I was ready to pay a premium just so I would not have to drive a while to the freeway, then take the bridge every day. I was dead set to live on the peninsula, nearby the Menlo Park-to-Campbell job center (much more plentiful and dynamic than Oakland+SF for my skillset). Had commuted on the bay bridge in 1997 and wasn’t fond of it.
Second, Oakland seemed to have too much contrast between its neighborhoods. I feel San Francisco and San Jose have the same problem. Basically I was looking for a smaller town with a greater community feel, without very poor nor very wealthy residents. Socially homogeneous.
Third, it felt like Oakland, on par with San Francisco, was saddled with gangs and crime. Living atop all this didn’t seem reassuring. The medias definitely skewed the picture because after buying in Mountain View, I found myself the neighbor of an active drug dealer, also my car got stolen in broad daylight from its condomimiun parking spot. But medias don’t talk about gangs and crime in the Whisman area, so I knew no better at the time.
Fourth, the MV downtown was thriving at the time (still is), with better restaurants opening every year. Again Oakland could mostly claim its proximity to San Francisco, or so it seemed to us.
So probably half the reason for the premium is the negative perception on gangs, crime, government dysfunction, schools, etc. reported by medias. This may not apply to some pockets of Oakland but most people (including me) don’t know this.
The other half is not having to take a bridge every day, and the knowledge that the company & property tax dollars collected by a peninsula city will improve your neighborhood and property values more effectively than Oakland’s would.
I sincerely believe that racism does not even account for 5% of the premium.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
madhaus – I hear Kiely’s Central Park was a full-day affair with a petting zoo for kids and plenty of activities. But I was stuck at home with a cold (!)
Does Sunnyvale have a Christmas tree ceremony at least? Santa Clara’s kicks ass, with the century-old teddy bear on top and the 80-year old folks singing and dancing.:)
July 5th, 2008 at 12:14 am
I’m not a big fan of the 4th of July. BBQ and park stuff is just boring to me, but I did go to Central Park to watch the fireworks. It was a mediocre display, but I can’t complain since I don’t want to drive to SF.
Speaking of Central Park, that seems like a nice area to buy an investment property. There’s a library and Kaiser nearby, and very close to jobs.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:35 am
RealEstater – Santa Clara’s fireworks are mostly for the kids. Next year try and park in the emergency lane on 280 South some time after Meridian exit, between two cars who do the same. There is a gorgeous view of the fireworks in San Jose and it’s not much farther for you. Also Shoreline’s are closer and probably better.
As for the Kaiser on Kiely, they’re closing it. They’ve been moving services one by one to the Lawrence|Homestead location. They’ll convert the Kiely location to residences, last I heard. That’ll make the Central Park neighbors happy, emergency helicopters to Stanford will no longer have to land near Kiely. But that’s making the Homestead folks unhappy since they’re planning to increase the rate of helicopter flights a bit (from 1/year to about 20/year if I recall)
July 5th, 2008 at 12:41 am
DreamT, we arrived after 8 pm, last band still playing, they mentioned two words that should never be used together, namely “Chuck Mangione” and “jazz.” Fortunately they switched to a bunch of Manhattan Transfer type vocals afterwards. Don’t know what they had earlier, we were there for the fireworks.
My younger kid went around the park crowds selling his can of 50 glowsticks at a profit. He learned when the price point he had in mind had no takers, he had to lower it. Kind of like houses in Silicon Valley. Except most homeowners are more stubborn than my son and demand their wishing price so they get to keep it longer and sell it for even less.
Meanwhile my older kid brought a friend and they spent the entire pre-fireworks time calling other people on the cell phone and passing it back and forth.
If Sunnyvale has a Christmas tree celebration, I have not heard about it. The city council is probably squabbling about who will set up, along with the nonexistent fireworks display and the nonexistent downtown project. Also a friend of mine who is involved with California Theater Center told me the city promised them a downtown theater and classrooms back in the 1990s and reneged on the deal during the endless project failures-to-proceed. Meanwhile Mountain View rebuilt Castro street and put in a new civic center and new theater where PYT (Peninsula Youth Theater) can perform. Had Sunnyvale put that project together and built that theater, they would have had the regional performances that Mountain View now gets, plus the dinner trade before/after performances that go with it. Short-sighted fools.
RE, rather than mingle with the middle class in 95051, you should have stayed in Palo Alto to enjoy the Rolls-Royce of fireworks. Definitely not mediocre. But they were so exclusive, alas, you did not merit an invitation. In fact I probably should not have mentioned them to you, because invitations are not transferable, and if you ask to be invited, they definitely will not include you. Ever.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:00 am
Thanks for the info, DreamT.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Madhaus,
The RR of Fireworks was in NYC. 7/4 is the one day I wish I were in NYC.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:13 am
You can lead a donkey to waterworks, but you can’t horse around with fireworks.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Cheer up, Madhaus! It’s a long weekend.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Hey, I got my Strat right here. Party on!
July 5th, 2008 at 8:51 am
rick Says:
July 4th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
“Lionel,
Take your sense elsewhere. Even in heated discussions I don’t see such remarks that not only degrading the owner of the site, but the entire board of contributors.
DreamT Says:
July 4th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
rick – Nicely put. Lionel demonstrated how to antagonize every single poster in just one sentence. I’m sure that to achieve that level of efficiency, it took him lots of practice.”
What I find amazing about this board is that there is so little sense of humor relative to the charm, sarcasm and humor burbed create in his/her posts. I made fun of San Jose a few months back (noting that people NEVER vacation there) and was met with a flurry of bizarrely angry posts. I don’t know if you just need more fiber in your diet, or whether working in SV makes people loopy, but lighten up, guys. Jeez.
PS – I didn’t antagonize every poster. I was very complimentary to Jim D.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Lionel, there’s plenty of humor here. Maybe you’re just not that good at communicating it. Others here seem to be able to let off some good ones which are highly appreciated, for instance Renter4 has a wicked, deadpan streak. I’ve gotten some very nice feedback for my noirish real estate mystery and for the song parodies.
So maybe the problem is really that what you think is funny comes across as rude. Printed humor is much more difficult than spoken; lots of nuance is lost without tone, expression, modulation, spacing, all those things you can do when you’re telling a story instead of writing one. Keep trying, I love a good zinger. But good is more important than zinger.
July 5th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Lionel, my post was suinting with humor and sarcasm (esp. sarcasm). We just all express ourselves in different ways…
July 5th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
“madhaus Says:
July 5th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Lionel, there’s plenty of humor here.”
Alright, I admit it, Realestater makes me laugh me regularly.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
for instance Renter4 has a wicked, deadpan streak
That volvo post sure made a big impression… but NONE Of you laughed at or even noticed the Vista one. I’m still PO’ed about that, especially since it was too burbed-specific to repeat to anyone in real life.
I didn’t think Lionel was being obnoxious… or at least, not more obnoxious than we routinely are to each other.
I don’t know if you just need more fiber in your diet, or whether working in SV makes people loopy, but lighten up, guys. Jeez.
It’s the long work hours. Makes us testy.
As long as I’m far, far, off topic, did you guys see the NYT article about Google daycare?
Long story short, they cancelled their cheap decent onsite daycare provider, and set up something super-expensive, that was subsidized VERRRRRY heavily, then decided to stop subsidizing. Onsite infant daycare rates for their employees have risen to the $2500/mo range. People apparently wept in public when it was announced.
July 7th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Renter4, I also liked the Trophy Divorce comment. Hyar, hyar. Can you give a link to the Vista one because it’s not ringing any bells. But at my age (over 30 in hex!), usually all I can remember are helpful things like my kindergarten teacher’s maiden name.
Thanks for that story on Google daycare, that was incredible.
PS — I’ve been trying to post this several times today, the site would not accept “1″ as the answer to 0+1. I notice burbed has removed that requirement.
July 19th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
32 vegas online…
brainstem spurs,disseminating …